Florida State’s reshaped tight end room should be a bigger part of the passing game in 2025. And a year after tight ends caught just 33 passes for 396 yards and three touchdowns, it needs to be.
But the difference should also be noticeable when it comes to blocking, with the Seminoles now having bigger bodies in the group — Markeston Douglas (270 pounds), Bryson Estes (269 pounds) and Randy Pittman (240 pounds) are new to the room. Landen Thomas is also up to 234 pounds, while Amaree Williams has jumped 20-25 pounds to 236. Freshman Chase Loftin arrives at 220 pounds.
“Blocking can definitely be a strength,” tight ends coach Chris Thomsen said Sunday. “Coach (Gus) Malzahn, we’re going to run the football and they’ve been doing that all spring. Similar to what we did, but we expect them to block at a high level. Landen and Amaree both have gotten bigger and stronger with a year of development.
“We have some guys that I believe can handle themselves really well in the run game.”
The desire, of course, is to use tight ends who are versatile. An ability to block as well as catch is important and doesn’t allow the defense to be tipped off about a run or pass play call.
Thomsen said he feels FSU will use tight ends all over the field. That includes in the backfield, often playing a “hybrid fullback / tight end role.” While Thomsen didn’t mention it on Sunday, coach Mike Norvell often used tight ends like that at Memphis from 2016-19 but hasn’t had that many versatile tight ends in his time at FSU. Often, Norvell has opted to use a linebacker like D.J. Lundy in a fullback role.
But one person who has been valued for years by Norvell and Thomsen is Pittman, a prospect from Panama City who the staff recruited early. Pittman played his first two years at UCF, picking up 32 catches for 416 yards and two tight ends as a sophomore — surpassing the combined receiving yardage of FSU’s tight end room from 2024. It’s plausible Pittman can line up in various spots on the field.
“We started recruiting him so early,” Thomsen said. “I watched him play football three or four times, basketball probably two or three times at least. I had a good feel for what we thought he would be. Coach Norvell always liked him. Just knew that he was a football player. He’s just a guy that can do a lot of things. He understands football. He likes the physicality of it.
“He’s become a really good route runner. His first two years in college he developed really well as a route runner and a blocker. He’s about what I thought he would be. He’s a guy we really wanted. Glad we got him on the backside.”
Thomsen also said Estes was soaking up tight end like a sponge. It’s early, and perhaps tough to gauge how much playing time the redshirt senior could push for in a room with veteran options.
“He’ll obviously be better at the run game,” Thomsen said. “He’s showed the ability to have some ball skills but obviously at his size and background he’ll be more of a blocking-type player and we’ll use him in different roles.
“He’s done a good job in what we asked him to do the last four days. The last couple days he’s gotten more involved. I’ve been impressed with just his ability to pick up the offense and transition to a new position.”
Dual roles for Williams
Thomsen said before camp started that Amaree Williams, a sophomore tight end / defensive end, would be practicing on offense and defense. The early reviews have impressed as Williams is arguably one of the more versatile athletes on FSU’s roster.
“He made an adjustment on a ball today and then goes over and plays defense and does all of the things,” Thomsen said. “It’s going to be fun to see how that evolves and how his role grows over the season.”
Thomsen said Williams is at 230 or 235 pounds in camp, up from where he was in 2024 as a reclassified freshman who enrolled a year early at “215 pounds on a good day, after practice he was probably 210.”
Said Thomsen: “He looks to me he has still kept his ability to run routes.”
FSU’s schedule this week
The Seminoles will practice on Monday morning and then will hold their first scrimmage Tuesday night. While it has not been announced, this would be FSU’s first chance to scrimmage inside Doak Campbell Stadium since work on the field was wrapped up and a new grass field was installed this summer. FSU will also practice on Wednesday before holding practices in Jacksonville on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
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